


Were it not that I have bad dreams...

by Elri



Category: Hamlet (2009), Hamlet - All Media Types, Hamlet - Shakespeare
Genre: Angst, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 13:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3489407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elri/pseuds/Elri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>" I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."<br/>- Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2</p>
            </blockquote>





	Were it not that I have bad dreams...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oopsabird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oopsabird/gifts).



Hamlet never told Horatio about the nightmares. He only ever told Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because he knew they thought everything that came out of his mouth was nonsense. Horatio wouldn’t even have known if Hamlet was sleeping or not if it weren’t for the times he’d stumbled across the prince tucked into some hidden corner of the palace (I say stumbled across but the truth was Horatio knew all of Hamlet’s hiding places and always went looking for him). What he didn’t know was that those were the times when Hamlet had strung himself out so far until he absolutely couldn’t stay awake so that he would hopefully sleep too deeply to dream. Or he had taken some kind of sleep aide in order to guarantee a peaceful (ha!) night.

Horatio did see the wear in Hamlet’s face, he was always looking how could he miss it? He tried to talk to his friend about it but there were some things Hamlet wouldn’t talk seriously with anyone, not even Horatio, about. Namely: himself. So Horatio didn’t say anything but if he made sure to keep Hamlet in his room (they had to meet in Horatio’s room, everyone was too stupid or else too blind to think to look for Hamlet there and Hamlet’s room was probably bugged, even Horatio had to concede to that possibility) especially late some nights and let him fall asleep there Hamlet didn’t say anything either. On those nights Horatio slept in his chair. Hamlet would tell him how he needs to stop doing that when he sees Horatio trying to get a new kink out of his neck but that would mean saying something.

And they’re not supposed to say anything.

Not even the first time Horatio wakes up suddenly, almost falling out of his chair, because Hamlet is screaming in his sleep.

He’s by his prince’s side and holding him close before he even starts to worry about this new (to him) development. Hamlet doesn’t wake up that night and Horatio is up early as usual so he doesn’t find out that morning either. It’s not until the third time that he does wake up from the nightmare. Hamlet is sweating but his skin feels like the touch of his father’s ghost so he clings to the warmth next to him. Then he realizes the fingers running through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. He looks up to Horatio’s face, the frown a familiar sight he’s seen on the faces of everyone else he knows, but they don’t look at him with those dark eyes that plead for understanding and scream love at the same time. They still don’t say anything, but Horatio doesn’t sleep in his chair and Hamlet doesn’t fall asleep in odd corners of the palace (no more so than he did before the world went insane).

 

If there had been any humor to the situation at all, it would’ve been laughable how familiar it felt when Horatio held Hamlet in that last moment they had...


End file.
